World Snooker Championship: Neil Robertson through to round two after comfortable win

By PA Sport

Last Updated: 22/04/17 12:25pm

Neil Robertson closed out victory against Noppon Saengkham in Sheffield

Neil Robertson set up an intriguing clash with Marco Fu as the Australian eased through to the second round of the Betfred World Championship in Sheffield.

The 2010 world champion converted an 8-1 overnight lead into a 10-4 victory over Thai debutant Noppon Saengkham.

Robertson, born in Melbourne but now living in Cambridge, had breaks of 70 and 76 to make sure of his place in round two, where the in-form Fu awaits.

"I'm very happy to get through. The damage was done [on Wednesday] when clearly I took full advantage of his nerves on his debut and I seemed to punish all his mistakes," said Robertson.

"Overall it was a very professional performance.

World Snooker Championship - Second Round Draw

Mark Selby (1)

v

Xiao Guodong

Neil Robertson (9)

v

Marco Fu (8)

Shaun Murphy (5)

v

Ronnie O'Sullivan (12)

Liang Wenbo (13)

v

Ding Junhui (4)

Stuart Bingham (3)

v

Kyren Wilson (14)

Mark Allen (11)

v

John Higgins (6)

Barry Hawkins

v

Graeme Dott

Stephen Maguire

v

Rory McLeod

"Today he came out without any pressure on him and knocked in a lot of great balls and he nicked a few back, but from 8-1 you've pretty much got to not turn up to get beaten from there.

"I was maybe little bit slack on a few shots but after the interval I regained my focus and was determined to finish it off."

Meanwhile Kent potter Barry Hawkins, who was runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan four years ago, completed the second-round line-up with a 10-3 win over Leicester's Tom Ford.

Elsewhere O'Sullivan moved into a commanding lead over Shaun Murphy with some fine break building as he hit top form in their second round World Championship encounter.

The five-time winner built an emphatic 6-2 lead over Murphy compiling breaks of 91, 75, 128, 76 and 74 to move ahead setting up the possibility of beating his opponent with a session to spare, just as he did in their quarter-final three years ago.

Shaun Murphy (left) trails Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-2 in Sheffield

O'Sullivan, the current Masters champion, could have moved into a 6-1 lead but missed the black for the frame, and Murphy potted it following a cagey safety battle. However, when an opportunity came knocking in the next frame, O'Sullivan made no mistake.

The target is 13 frames in this second-round match, which resumes on Friday afternoon and has the possibility of a third session scheduled for Saturday morning.